Tom Speight Starts A New Chapter

“It’s about finding the magic in the mundane,” declares Tom Speight as he delves into the subjective, circumstantial ever-changing meaning of love, the four-letter word that is so often sung about and sought after. Tom Speight is no stranger to making sense of his feeling via his arena-worthy contemporary pop loveable sing-alongs.

The newest collection of more defining records is Speight’s third studio album ‘Love & Light’; universal, relatable, and timeless. Recorded over the last two summers, ‘Love & Light’ offers 12 separate capsules of Speight’s stripped-back interpretation of love, loss, and hope moving forward.

With his insightful penship, Tom Speight has individually crafted a collection of sonic moments in time, transcribing his rawest of emotions into light-hearted pop ballads, such as his favorite track out of the album ‘Wonderful Wonder,’ which easily earns the term of ultimate love song. With previous singles, ‘The One,’ ‘If This Is How The Story Ends,’ ‘Let Go,’ ‘Tomorrow,’ ‘Aftermath,’ ‘Trick Of The Light,’ the London singer/songwriter has offered a step-by-step look into his emotional bearings.

To celebrate the release of ‘Love & Light,’ Tom Speight speaks to Noctis, feeling the best he’s felt in the last 14 years. Acknowledging his vocal progression, he is beyond excited to share and perform this record on an upcoming UK tour. He opens up about being eager to step out of his comfort zone and invest more time in the production side of the recording process.

It’s not long until your third album ‘Love & Light’ is out for everyone to hear. How are you feeling?

I’m just really excited to get the songs out! I recorded the album over the last two summers. I feel like it’s my best work. Vocally I feel like I’ve progressed so much since I first started. This is definitely the start of a new chapter & a closing of another.

For a long time ‘Love & Light’ was only yours to listen to. How does it feel to have the album with your personal anecdotes out for everyone to make it their own?

So, songs like ‘Wonderful Wonder’ I’ve had in my back pocket for nearly 2 years. It’s 100% my favourite song on this album. I just want the songs to connect with everyone. I feel just as passionate about the songs as I did on my 1st album.

You released your debut album ‘Collide’ in 2019, can you talk about the progression from this project to your upcoming record?

The biggest difference I would say is that Chris didn’t produce this record. I wanted to shake things up & take more responsibility for the production. I loved working with Chris & he was such huge influence on my music but I felt like I needed to step out of my comfort zone. I loved working at Abbey Road with my favourite musicians. It’s what making records is about! Pure good vibes!!

What’s your favourite part of being an artist? (Writing, performing, recording, touring etc)

I would say the initial feeling of finishing a song & hearing it come to life in a studio followed by playing it live! I love it all.

When did you discover your passion for singing and writing songs?

I was 8 years old when I fell in love with music! Oasis – Live Forever changed my life!

What is your favourite lyric you’ve ever written?

Ah great question! ‘In a panic in the eye of a storm’ – ‘Alice’ on album 1. It sums up everything I was going through.

Who would you love to collaborate with, dead or alive?

John Lennon or Joni Mitchell!! That would be a dream.

What is the meaning behind your album title ‘Love & Light’?

It’s about joy, love, hope & loss! 100% my most personal record so far. It was inspired by the artwork of Dan Baldwin. We actually used his ‘Love & Light’ painting for the album cover.

You said that ‘Love & light’ is ‘without doubt, your most personal to date,’did it happen naturally or you simply just wanted to open up more and dig deeper with your songwriting this time around?

I think it was a knock on affect from recording my second album I wanted to dive a bit more deeper with this record. I needed to explore more themes.

You’re also an ambassador for Crohn’s & Colitis UK. It has to be difficult to open up about something that affects your day-to-day life and you struggled with since 2006. Were you always comfortable talking about your experience or is it more of a case of speaking up and raising awareness?

I wanted to raise awareness plus I also wanted to do it for my younger self. When I first initially got diagnosed I couldn’t imagine talking about my experiences but I’ve grown over time and I feel ready to share my experiences and hopefully break some form of stigma attached to the disease and inspire others who may have just got diagnosed and send them a message of hope that things will get better.

In your opinion what is the ultimate love song?

From my catalogue I would say ‘Wonderful Wonder’ but as a music fan I would say ‘Harvest Moon’ by Neil Young.

On ‘Love & Light,’ you share your perspective on love, loss and hope, how would you describe the feeling of being in love?

I think for me love is.. Being there for someone at their lowest point & loving them when don’t love themselves. It’s about finding the magic in the mundane. It’s not about fancy restaurants, holidays etc.. it’s about having someone you can be truly yourself around.. you don’t need to hide the ugly parts you don’t like because they love you for being you.

What else do you have planned for this year?

It’s going to be a really busy year I’m going to places that haven’t played for a long time like Brazil. I’m doing a big UK tour plus I’ll be doing support tours. I’m just so excited to share the new album with everyone.